


The matchmaker

by cease



Category: DBSK | Tohoshinki | TVfXQ | TVXQ
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-13
Updated: 2014-12-13
Packaged: 2018-03-01 06:53:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2763788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cease/pseuds/cease
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Changmin has a crush. Yunho decides to offer his help.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The matchmaker

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my beta, the (sometimes) lovely pinkeuphoria1

It wasn’t like him to get involved in other people’s business, but there was something about that blush, that unwavering stare that spiked his interest.

And there it was again. If even Yunho could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, he wondered how Donghae remained oblivious. He supposed Donghae’s obliviousness was part of what made him popular with both men and women. Usually, Yunho would have a _strong word_ with anyone who appeared to be following his best friend around like a stalker, but there was something about the way the boy would advert his gaze every time Yunho caught him looking, the way that even his ears would turn bright red, that made him pause.

It was kind of cute.

‘Do you know that boy that sat behind us in the morning lecture? The tall, skinny one?’

Donghae shrugged. ‘Which tall, skinny one?’

‘Never mind.’

 

 

 

 

The boy was staring at them again, this time from across the cafeteria. He was sitting with other people. So at least he did have friends after all. Yunho wondered if his friends knew about his interest in guys. Yunho smiled at him, and was amused to see the boy choke on his bread.

‘What are you looking at?’ Donghae poked him.

‘Just admiring your fan club.’

‘Don’t be stupid, you’re the one with the fan club.’

Yunho rolled his eyes. ‘Hey, what are you doing after your afternoon lecture?’

‘I’ve got basketball club,’ Donghae said with a full mouth. ‘Then I think Kangin has organised late night karaoke. Are you coming?’

‘Nah, I’m meeting Boa.’

Donghae swallowed and clutched onto Yunho’s arm, ‘Bros before hoes! How could you choose Boa before me?’

Yunho laughed and ruffled his hair. ‘Don’t let Boa hear you call her that, even I won’t be able to save you then.’

There was a crash nearby and Yunho looked up to see the boy fumbling for tissues to clean up his spilled lunch.

Yunho kind of felt sorry for him.

 

 

 

 

A week later Yunho woke up earlier than usual for a meeting Heechul deemed was absolutely necessary. Heechul had just pronounced himself as manager of the Hapkido team and there was nothing even Yunho, the captain of the team, could do about it. He was still pulling on his jacket when he noticed the boy walking towards the entrance of the dorms.

‘Hey, freshman’ he called, ‘What’s your name?’

The boy’s eyes widened, but his voice was steady when he answered.

‘Shim Changmin.’

Yunho broke into a smile. The boy was cute, after all.

‘Well, Changminnie,’ he said and laughed when Changmin’s expression turned panicked as Yunho threw an arm around his shoulders. ‘Why don’t you come with me for a moment.’

They walked together to the main university grounds and Yunho steered Changmin towards an empty seminar room. Changmin looked around uneasily as Yunho locked the room.

‘Calm down,’ Yunho said and straddled one of the many empty seats. ‘I’m offering my help.’

‘Help?’ Changmin asked and he took the seat next to Yunho.

‘You like Donghae, right? I can help you.’

Changmin’s eyes widened. ‘What-‘

‘Don’t worry,’ Yunho said and smiled, ‘Donghae’s a bit slow, so he hasn’t noticed. But you should tone down your staring, it’s kind of obvious.’

‘My… staring?’

‘The way you stare at him. It’s too intense to be normal.’

Changmin’s ears flashed pink.

‘Like I said, I wouldn’t worry about it. Donghae’s kind of dense like that.’

‘But you noticed.’

‘Yeah, that’s because I’m smart.’

Changmin snorted.

‘Did… did you just snort?’ Yunho asked, surprised. The shy boy, was looking less shy by the moment.

‘No.’

‘You totally did!’

Changmin ignored him and stared at some point on the wall behind Yunho.

‘When you said you would help me… what exactly did you mean?’

Yunho beamed. ‘Well, I’m his best friend. So if you were friends with me, he’d pay more attention to you. It’s a fool proof plan, you see.’

Changmin looked like he wanted to snort again. ‘Just because someone notices you, doesn’t mean they will like you.’

‘But it’s a start, right? I mean, at the moment I don’t even know if he knows you exist.’

Changmin’s gaze dropped and Yunho wanted to slap himself for being so insensitive.

‘Look, just think about it okay? You don’t need to answer me right away. It looks like you are staying in the dorms too. If you want to find me, my room’s on the third floor-‘

‘I know where your room is,’ Changmin blurted out, and then stood up abruptly.

‘Sorry, I… I’ve got to go.’

Then he ran out of the room.

 

 

 

 

Yunho returned to his dorm after dinner with Boa to find Changmin sitting on the floor against his door.

Changmin scrambled to his feet when he saw him approach.

‘Hi,’ he said and stared at Yunho.

Yunho reached to ruffle the boy’s hair and couldn’t resist a smile when Changmin sputtered and tried to slap his hands away. He finally backed off when Changmin glared at him.

‘Okay okay,’ he said and raised his hands in surrender, ‘I get it, you’re only nice to Donghae.’

He opened his door and gestured for Changmin to follow. Changmin stood in doorway looking uncertain until Yunho pulled him inside and shut the door behind him.

‘I won’t bite, I promise,’ he chuckled.

Changmin was a statue in his tiny dorm room. The first thing he and Donghae did when they moved in, was to throw out the chairs in the dorm. It cleared out floor space for them to throw their shoes, textbooks and anything else they couldn’t fit on their beds. There was an awkward silence, during which Changmin looked as if the mess in the room offended him personally.

Yunho pushed him towards one of the beds.

‘You can lie down if you want,’ he said with a wink, ‘Donghae’s out to karaoke. He won’t even know.’

Changmin looked so panicked it made Yunho laugh. He moved to the end of his own bed and before he could offer Changmin a place to sit, Changmin was already sitting down on the other end of Yunho’s bed.

‘You know, the way you’re so shy about Donghae is kind of cute.’

Changmin frowned.

‘I’m not shy and I’m not cute.’

‘I’m just saying, if I had the chance, I’d totally want to lie down on the bed of the person I liked.’

Changmin turned away from him and threw some clothes off Yunho’s bed until he could climb fully onto the bed and sit cross-legged.

‘Hey!’ Yunho protested as his clothes hit the floor.

‘How can anyone live like this?’ Changmin asked, surveying the room.

‘What? You’re disappointed that your perfect Donghae is messy?’

‘I bet he’s not as messy as you.’

‘You know,’ Yunho said as he ran a hand through his hair, ‘I take it back, you’re not cute at all.’

‘Good.’ Changmin said. The corners of his lips were twitching slightly and Yunho couldn’t help but feel that he was somewhat adorable after all.

‘I assume you’ve come here because you want my help after all?’

‘Maybe I’m here because I wanted to talk with Donghae hyung?’

Yunho shook his head. ‘If you could talk to him, you wouldn’t be stalking him.’

‘I’m not - ,’ Changmin paused and then stared at the other side of the room, where Donghae’s bed lay. ‘I’m not stalking him, I just… wanted to watch him, that’s all.’

‘I’m sure that’s what all the stalkers say.’

Changmin spluttered.

‘I’m just teasing you,’ Yunho smiled at him, ‘I think you would be good for him. He needs someone to take care of him.’

‘So are you going to help me?’ Changmin asked.

‘I wouldn’t have offered if I wasn’t going to follow through. Ask me what you want to know about him and I’ll answer the best I can.’

Changmin seemed to mull over the task for a while before asking: ‘What is his favourite colour?’

‘I think it’s blue.’

‘His favourite sport?’

‘He’s in the basketball team, but he also likes soccer.’

‘Okay.’

‘Okay?’ Yunho asked, ‘Isn’t there anything else you want to know about him?’

‘I just…’ Changmin shifted uncomfortably, ‘I just can’t think with the mess around this room, okay?’

Yunho rolled his eyes and collapsed on the bed. His head lay on the mattress and from that angle, it occurred to him that Changmin had really well defined cheekbones.

‘Stop staring,’ Changmin told him and moved off the bed.

For the next 20 minutes, Yunho watched as Changmin picked up the clothes piled on the floor and folded them neatly into neat piles. It was impressive that he was able to tell what clothes belonged to whom. _It must be the power of love_ , Yunho mused, either that, or he had underestimated Changmin’s stalking skills. To fill in the silence while Changmin worked, Yunho chatted about his day, about how Heechul had bullied his way into his Hapkido team and made Yunho buy him lunch because he was late to the meeting that morning.

‘And that was totally your fault!’ he told Changmin.

‘Not my fault, you’re such a pushover for Heechul hyung.’

‘Why you little brat,’ Yunho shook his finger at the back of Changmin’s head, ‘Learn a little respect or I’ll stop helping you win Donghae’s heart.’

Changmin just grumbled under his breath.

 

 

 

 

Over the course of the next month, he dragged Changmin out to eat with him for at least one meal each day. Donghae complained one night that Yunho was neglecting their friendship and threatened to withdraw his title of “best friend”.

‘I think we can start inviting Donghae now,’ Yunho told Changmin, ‘I can introduce you as a new friend I made.’

‘I… I don’t think I’m ready to talk directly with him yet,’ Changmin said, ‘Maybe later?’

‘I don’t know why you’re still nervous, you’re perfectly fine with me and with your friends.’

‘It’s … different.’

There was something about the way that Changmin shied away when talking about Donghae that was beginning to become more annoying than cute.

‘Yeah, I know,’ Yunho said, ‘You like him. A lot. But I can’t keep this up. If we’re just going to hang out, how am I supposed to help you? If you refuse to do anything about Donghae, it’s just a waste of time.’

‘If hanging out with me is a waste of time, then you could have just said so!’

‘That’s not what I meant!’

They were both standing up now. Changmin’s fists were clenched against his sides and his eyes were on fire.

‘I’m going,’ he declared and was walking out of the restaurant before Yunho could stop him. He nearly rushed after him before realising that he hadn’t paid for the meal.

 

 

 

 

It wasn’t until Changmin started avoiding him that he realised how much time they had been spending together. He would still catch Changmin staring when he was with Donghae, but when their eyes met, Changmin no longer blushed, he simply looked away. Every time Yunho tried to get close enough to speak to him, he would disappear.

It was frustrating and Yunho found himself spending his spare time trying to track him down. Changmin was always together with a group of freshman students, but stood out like a sore thumb due to his height. It amused Yunho that someone who seemed popular would be so hopeless when it came to Donghae. He watched Changmin chatting with professors in the corridors, eating with his friends in the cafeteria and walking around the campus ground with a brown haired boy who was shorter than him. Around these people, Changmin laughed and smiled and came across as someone friendly and well mannered. Yunho wondered if there was something about him that Changmin specifically disliked, which made him act the way he did around Yunho. It was this thought that made him stop trying to seek the younger boy out. He didn’t want to make Changmin uncomfortable.

‘I don’t know why you’ve been moping, but you should stop it,’ Donghae said as he threw a sock at Yunho’s head.

‘I’m not moping.’

‘Whatever,’ Donghae replied good naturedly, ‘a bunch of us are going out for food outside of campus. You’re coming.’

Yunho groaned, but sat up when a pair of jeans hit his face.

‘I can’t have my best friend and dorm mate turn into an antisocial loser,’ Donghae was saying, ‘what would Eunhyuk say?’

Yunho chucked. Donghae’s friendship with the soccer club captain was borderline obsessive. They had begun the first few weeks of the year at war, trying to convince students to joins their respective clubs. Somehow, the more at odds they were, the more they were joined at the hip. Yunho suddenly felt his stomach drop uncomfortably. He wondered if Changmin knew.

‘Eunhyuk is coming?’

‘Yeah, he’s bringing his genius freshmen friends. You know, the ones that are enrolled in some of our classes.’

Yunho froze.

‘Who?’

‘Kyuhyun, who’s this complete brat, and his tall friend. What was his name again?’

Yunho stared at Danghae impatiently as the other boy walked around the dorm looking for a clean pair of socks.

‘Changminnie! That’s his name!’

‘You know him?’ His voice came out a litter harsher than intended and Donghae gave him a confused look.

‘Yeah, he’s kind of quiet, but can be funny?’

‘How long have you known him?’

‘A few weeks? Like I said, he’s a friend of Eunhyuk’s.’ Donghae frowned at him. ‘Are you okay, do you have something against him or anything?’

‘What? No,’ Yunho said, ‘of course not.’

He should have been pleased that Changmin had apparently taken his advice and finally acted on his feelings. But the fact that he had done so without telling Yunho left an ugly feeling in his chest.

Donghae insisted that Yunho join them for karaoke because apparently Yunho had been ‘weird’ lately and Donghae was convinced a night out would set him right. Donghae’s friendship groups mostly overlapped with Yunho’s, having gone to the same middle school and high school. Yunho was pleased to find the high school gang gathered when they arrived karaoke room, with a few additions. Michael Jackson’s _Smooth Criminal_ was being butchered by at least 6 different voices and Yunho would have joined in at the next _‘Annie, are you OK’_ but that was the moment he spotted Changmin. He was laughing so hard he was practically falling over into Siwon’s lap. His eyes crinkled, mismatched.

It struck Yunho that he had never seen Changmin so relaxed and so _happy_. Even through they had shared laughter and banter during their time together, he had always felt that Changmin had been a little reserved. Again, that ugly feeling returned. How could Changmin be comfortable enough to relax and act freely with other people, most of whom he had probably only known for a few weeks?

He could tell the exact moment Changmin noticed him. His shoulders stiffened and his eyes widened as they followed Yunho across the room. When Yunho finally managed to squeeze between him and Kangin, a look of panic flashed across his face, but it was quickly replaced by an uneasy smile. Siwon chose that moment to lean over and greet him. Yunho gave him a warm hug, pressing his thighs tightly against Changmin’s in order to reach Siwon.

Siwon talked about interning at his father’s companies and how the secretaries kept hitting on him. Yunho laughed and asked him to get him an intern placement there too. Changmin sat between them, laughing at all the right places, but refusing to meet Yunho’s eyes. When Siwon stood up to sing his song (Whitney Houston’s _Jesus loves me_ ), Yunho lightly tapped the back of Changmin’s head.

‘What?’ Changmin said and reached up to rub the spot Yunho touched.

‘Stop ignoring me.’

‘I’m not…’ he trailed off and looked away.

‘You are,’ Yunho said and then sighed. ‘Look, I didn’t mean to fight with you, I can’t even remember what we were fighting about.’

‘You said I wasn’t trying hard enough.’

Yunho forced a smile. ‘I was wrong.’

Changmin stared at him, unwavering, and Yunho fought not to look away.

‘I don’t want us to fight,’ Yunho told him.

Changmin took a long drink from his beer.

‘I don’t want us to fight either,’ he admitted finally and gave Yunho a hesitant smile.

It was like a weight had been lifted off his chest, one that he didn’t even know had been there in the first place. Yunho swung an arm around him and laughed against his ear.

‘I’m so glad.’

‘Hyung,’ Changmin protested, ‘You’re overreacting!’

He struggled against Yunho’s arms and tried to move away, but he mustn’t have tried very hard, because his head was buried against Yunho’s neck and he could tell from the way Changmin’s shoulders were shaking, that he was laughing too.

 

 

 

 

Changmin became a constant presence in their group, so much so that he seemed to be everywhere Yunho was and always there when Yunho needed him to be. He would wait for Yunho and Donghae outside at the entrance of the dorm on Wednesday mornings and hand Yunho a cup of coffee, because Tuesday nights were club practice nights and Yunho was always be exhausted the next day. Sometimes, he would forget that Changmin wasn’t just there for him. The way he would shyly say ‘good morning’ to Donghae should have been funny or even adorable, but over time it became tiresome.

He was getting comfortable around Changmin. Changmin was reliable and funny in his own way and sometimes it felt like time passed too quickly when they were together. For a while, Yunho was content.

Until he arrived back in his dorm early one Tuesday night from club practice to find Donghae and Eunhyuk on Donghae’s bed, wrapped up against each other, too intimate to be a friendly embrace. Yunho shut the door quietly, hoping his intrusion had been unnoticed and walked blindly along the corridor. He must have taken the stairs, because he was startled to find himself outside of Changmin’s dorm.

‘Changmin!’ Kyuhyun called when he opened the door and saw him. ‘It’s your Yunho hyung!’

Changmin appeared a moment later, dressed in his pyjamas. His hair was a messy mob on top of his head. It occurred to Yunho that perhaps he had been sleeping.

‘Hyung?’ Changmin was saying, waving a hand in front of Yunho’s face.

‘I just…’ he swallowed. ‘I just came to see if you were okay.’

‘Of course I’m okay,’ Changmin frowned. ‘Are you okay?’

This was the time to tell Changmin about Donghae and Eunhyuk, because Changmin deserved to know. But Yunho’s stomach twisted at the thought of seeing Changmin hurt and there was a small, ugly voice that reminded him the only reason Changmin was spending time with him was because of Donghae. Would Changmin still feel comfortable being around him once his best friend had broken his heart? Would Changmin even have any need to seek him out anymore?

‘Nothing,’ he said and asked if Changmin felt like playing basketball.

Changmin gave him an odd look. If he thought playing basketball in the middle of the night was strange, he didn’t say anything. Instead he went to fetch his basketball.

 

 

 

 

Yunho knew he wasn’t being fair, but he wanted to knock Donghae on the head every time he talked about Eunhyuk. Donghae seemed to just assume that Yunho knew about his new relationship status, which made Yunho angry on Changmin’s behalf. Changmin was bright and handsome and nice, he didn’t understand how Donghae could be so oblivious.

He spent the next week trying to put some distance between Changmin and Donghae. He dragged Changmin to play basketball, baseball, bowling and even table tennis. Changmin was competitive and often played dirty (‘oh hyung, look over there!’) and Yunho, despite being extremely competitive by nature, didn’t mind losing if it was to Changmin. He tried to forget about Donghae and Eunhyuk, but it was constantly at the back of his mind. A simple question from Changmin: ‘Does Donghae hyung like table tennis?’ would sour his mood.

There was no denying that he couldn’t keep the relationship from Changmin forever. He wanted to be the one to tell Changmin, because he didn’t want Changmin to hear it from someone who didn’t know his feelings. He wanted to be there when Changmin found out, so that he could comfort him in any way he could. The problem was that every time he wanted to tell Changmin, he would stop himself. The more time they spent together, the more he saw Changmin’s playful side, the way Changmin sometimes went out of his way to look after Yunho when he didn’t have to. It was not just about the coffees in the morning, but the way Changmin let himself be dragged to play bowling even when he preferred other sports and the way they studied together even though Yunho was sure Changmin had already finished his assignments while Yunho attended his club duties. Would he lose all of that when Changmin found out that Donghae was no longer available?

Yunho didn’t get a chance to make his decision, because at lunch one Monday afternoon, Donghae took the seat next to Yunho and stared at him accusingly.

‘Are you done avoiding me?’ he asked.

‘What?’

‘I haven’t seen you in like two weeks!’

Changmin watched them nervously. ‘Sorry, Donghae hyung,’ he said shyly, ‘I’ve been taking up too much of his time…’

‘I’m not blaming you,’ Donghae grinned at him. Then he reached over to stab a finger in Yunho’s cheek.

‘Surely walking in on Eunhyuk and me wasn’t that traumatic. I thought you were more open-minded than that.’

He said it in a light tone, but Yunho could tell by the way he was frowning that Donghae was genuinely upset. How could he have hurt his friend without realising?

‘It was seeing your naked butt that was traumatic,’ he said and shoved Donghae lightly with his shoulder.

Donghae visibly relaxed. ‘You jerk. You honestly had me worried for weeks!’

Yunho heard rather than saw Donghae leave, because he couldn’t tear his eyes away from Changmin. With one last playful shove from Donghae, it was just Yunho and Changmin left at the table again.

‘So you knew,’ Changmin said. Yunho couldn’t detect any anger, but Changmin’s face was closed off and his eyes were bright red.

‘Changmin, I was going to tell you.’

‘When? When you got bored of me?’ his voice rose as he stood up. ‘It must have been hilarious for you.’

‘What?’ Yunho cried and hurried after Changmin as he walked away. ‘Of course not Changmin, I just didn’t want to hurt you… I-‘

‘So you lied to me instead.’

‘I didn’t lie to you,’ Yunho said desperately, grabbing a hold of Changmin’s arm and turning him around so that they were face to face. He almost took a step back at the fury visible on Changmin’s face.

‘I didn’t mean to…’ he added hopelessly.

Changmin tore his arm from his grip.

‘Stay away from me.’

 

 

 

 

It was easier said than done. Changmin’s friends had become Yunho’s friends and although Yunho did his best to stay out of Changmin’s ways, it was inevitable that they would end up at the get togethers and parties.

Every time he caught Changmin’s eye, his stare was intense and Yunho felt nauseous knowing that Changmin was still angry with him. It didn’t help matters that Donghae and Eunhyuk were glued at the hip.

‘Donghae’s not shy about public displays of affection, especially around us. Every time I look at Changmin to see how he is coping, he’s always glaring at me!’ he cried and then drowned his glass of whisky, and then winced.

Boa slapped him on the shoulder. Hard.

‘Your love life sucks. My love life sucks too,’ she droned. ‘Why did we break up in the first place?’

Yunho patted her shoulder. ‘I don’t know, you dumped me.’

‘Damn straight.’ She said and then they laughed.

They wobbled back to campus, drunk and steering each other away from trees and ditches. Yunho didn’t remember parting ways with Boa, but when he opened his eyes the next morning, he was back in his own bed.

‘Changmin brought you back,’ Donghae said, while Yunho tried to swallow some painkillers for his headache. He nearly choked on the water.

‘Changmin was here?’

‘I think he said he found you trying and failing to walk around a bench and took pity on you.’

‘Oh,’ Yunho said and felt mortified.

‘He changed you into your pyjamas too.’

 

 

 

 

Yunho stared at Changmin’s dorm door, trying to decide how best to approach him without seeming as desperate as he felt, when the door opened. Kyuhyun rushed from the dorm, pausing only to shout:

‘Your Yunho hyung is here!’ when he caught sight of Yunho.

A moment later Changmin burst into the doorway.

‘He’s not my-‘ he started and then froze when he saw Yunho.

‘-Yunho hyung…’

‘Hi Changminnie,’ Yunho said and tried to smile.

Changmin looked a little resigned when he moved out of the doorway to let Yunho in. Yunho reminded himself that if Changmin truly didn’t want to see him, he would not have invited him in. He sat tensely on Changmin’s bed while Changmin took the tattered looking armchair.

Yunho tried to break the awkward silence by talking about their upcoming exams, which was a bad idea because it brought back memories of how the two of them used to spend hours in the library together. They spent half the time studying and the other half trying to eat food from their bags without being caught by the librarian.

‘Maybe this wasn’t a good idea,’ Changmin said and massaged his temples. He stood up and walked towards the door.

‘No,’ Yunho insisted, ‘This is a great idea.’

He caught Changmin’s arm as he passed by and held on. His grip tightened when Changmin tried to pull away.

‘Hyung…’

‘Can we just talk? I miss talking with you.’

He pulled on Changmin’s arm until he was sitting next to him on the mattress.

‘Actually I just miss you in general,’ Yunho continued. ‘I miss everything about you.’

Changmin stared at him.

‘If you are joking, I will kill you.’

Yunho winced, but he felt a spark of anger. ‘Why would I joke about something like that?’

‘You knew about Donghae and Eunhyuk all along. Did you enjoy toying with me?’

‘What?’ Yunho cried, ‘Of course not!’

Changmin wasn’t even looking at him now and somehow, that was unacceptable. Yunho cupped Changmin’s face in his hands and turned his head so that they were facing each other.

‘I would never do that,’ he said quietly, ‘I just… I just didn’t know what to do. I wanted to tell you, but I was afraid you wouldn’t want to be with me anymore once you knew that Donghae wasn’t available.’

Changmin’s eyes widened.

‘When did you find out?’

‘A few weeks ago,’ Yunho replied, and felt guilt swell uncomfortable in his throat. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t tell you straight away.’

‘Oh.’

‘Oh?’

Then Changmin’s face broke into a shy smile.

‘Oh,’ he said, before pulling Yunho closer and pressing their lips together.

 

 

 

 

Once they were consciously making the effort to spend as much of their spare time together as possible, Yunho realised that it wasn’t very much of a change at all.

‘It’s because we were always spending our time together anyway,’ he told Changmin in the library.

Changmin looked up from the book he was reading.

‘Are you sure?’ he asked.

Yunho was about to answer when he felt something warm press against his ankles and slide up.

He coughed nervously and glanced around before reaching down and taking a hold of Changmin’s wondering foot.

‘If you don’t behave,’ he said, lowering his voice, ‘I won’t be responsible for my actions.’

Changmin’s ears flushed.

‘I’m not scared.’

‘Oh you should be,’ Yunho told him with a smirk, before running his fingers against the bottom of Changmin’s foot. Changmin barked out a loud laugh and nearly fell out of his chair.

After that incident, they got banned from the library for a week.

 

 

 

 

Some time later, it finally occurred to Yunho that he hardly saw Changmin’s roommate in the dorm. When he voiced his question, Changmin just rolled his eyes.

‘He’s been rooming with Siwon for a while now.’

‘Why?’

‘Because Eunhyuk spends all his time in your dorm with Donghae and you spend all your time in my dorm with me. So Kyuhyun’s sharing a dorm with Siwon hyung now, because there’s a free bed.’

‘That’s nice of him,’ Yunho said.

When Yunho ran into Kyuhyun later that day, he decided to thank him in person.

‘Don’t worry about it,’ Kyuhyun said, ‘I was sick of listening to Changmin talk about you all day anyway. Besides, Siwon’s rich and buys me food.’

He thought it was a strange thing to say, as Kyuhyun had moved dorms soon after Yunho and Changmin started seeing each other.

‘What are you talking about?’ Donghae said when Yunho told him about Kyuhyun’s comment. ‘Changminnie’s always liked you.’

‘No, he used to like you,’ Yunho said.

‘Nope,’ Donghae said, ‘It was definitely you. He used to stare at you all the time. It was slightly creepy before the two of you became friends.’

By the time Yunho finished his classes and reached Changmin’s dorm, he couldn’t keep the grin off his face.

‘You look constipated,’ Changmin said as soon as he walked through the door.

‘What’s Donghae’s favourite colour?’ Yunho asked instead.

‘I don’t know,’ Changmin shrugged.

‘What’s his favourite sport?’

‘Why are you asking me –‘

‘Just answer me, okay?’

Changmin frowned. ‘Basketball? He’s captain of the basketball team.’

‘Besides basketball.’

‘How would I know?’ Changmin said and tried to walk away, but Yunho pulled him towards himself and then pinned him against the door.

‘Why are we talking about Donghae?’ Changmin breathed against his ear and gasped when Yunho pressed their hips together.

‘Because Changmin,’ Yunho drawled, ‘You liked Donghae, remember?’

Changmin’s eyes widened, before he pushed against Yunho’s chest. Yunho laughed.

‘Or was it someone else you liked?’

‘No, it was definitely Donghae hyung,’ Changmin snapped, but his face was red now. “I liked everything about Donghae hyung.’

‘What’s my favourite colour, Changminnie?’

Changmin pushed against his arms this time, trying to escape, but Yunho tightened his arms until there was no space between them.

‘Answer the question, Changminne.’

‘Red,’ Changmin said, sounding resigned.

Yunho was about to ask another question, when Changmin continued:

‘You’re captain of the Hapkido team, but you also like bowling. Your favourite food is Spaghetti Carbonara and you’re an idiot.’

Yunho’s smile was so wide his cheeks hurt and he felt as if his face would split into two if he didn’t kiss Changmin right at that moment.

‘If you ever ask me again, I might deny it,’ Changmin told him when they broke apart. His hands were tucked into Yunho’s back pockets and he squeezed in warning.

Yunho chuckled, before leaning down to rest his forehead against Changmin’s shoulder.

‘I’m really glad you liked me from back then, because I’m really glad you’re with me now.’

‘Idiot,’ Changmin whispered. And then he drew Yunho into another kiss and Yunho felt him smile against his lips.

 

 

 


End file.
